TasNetworks, TasWater and the Tasmanian Government must commit to further reform in order to fix the key issues which continue to hold back Tasmania’s housing supply, according to the state’s leading property industry body.
The Property Council of Australia Tasmanian Division released Removing the regulatory handbrake: Seven steps to fix Tasmania’s housing supply, as a blueprint for decision makers to fix the issues at the heart of the state’s worsening housing shortage.
The document contains seven strategies to increase housing supply, including accelerating the approval process, clearing the TasNetworks bottleneck, streamlining TasWater’s processes, finalising the Tasmanian Planning Scheme, encouraging inner city housing development, developing the Glenorchy to Hobart transit corridor and taking advantage of the Hobart City Deal.
Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia Tasmanian Division, Brian Wightman said the document will be used to stimulate discussion and inform key policy makers and stakeholders about planning for Tasmania’s housing future.
“We are putting these ideas out there to spur on action and ignite debate about how we can work together as a state to ensure future Tasmanians have sufficient access to housing,” Mr Wightman said.
“A short-term fix for housing is much needed, however it is imperative key decision makers begin planning for longer term outcomes immediately.
“The problems at the root of Tasmania’s housing shortage are multi-layered and require coordinated, insightful planning to properly address.
“The initiatives outlined in the document will take time to implement, but when completed will go a long way towards ensuring Tasmanians are able to access suitable and affordable housing into the future.
“At the top of the list is Tasmania’s convoluted approval process and the Property Council insists the Tasmanian Government legislates for approval timeframes across all regulatory bodies involved in the planning and building process.
“Navigating through the approval process is an unnecessarily difficult task for developers and without timeframes for the assessment of aspects such as detailed engineering designs, the process can become a long and drawn-out affair.
“Aside from holding back delivery of housing to the market, costs associated with delays are incurred by developers and ultimately drive up end prices and lower investment appeal.”
Source: Property Council of Australia